GARDEN committee's REPORT. 69 



EEPOJiT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GAEDENS, 



For the Year 18GS. 



BY H. W. FULLER, ESQ. 



Gardens are so various in character and products, that every memlDer 

 of an ordinary Couunittee cannot be expected to be an eccpert in all 

 departments. The Flower or Landscape Garden rau&t be judged by 

 persons trained a little beyond the orchard or vegetable ground ; and 

 greenhouses, nurseries or graperies require judgments matured b}' 

 familiarity with such subjects. The Society h^Ls, therefore, wiselj' 

 provided that the Chairmen of the several Committees " on Fruits," 

 " on Flowers" and "on Vegetables" shall be, ex officio^ members of the 

 Garden Committee, which at times must need the knowledge and taste 

 of each of the others. And your Committee have not hesitated to 

 avail themselves of the company and experience of other members 

 skilled in the matters presented for examination; whereby they have 

 made the season pass off pleasantly and profitably. 



They now take great pleasure in being able to report, that the past 

 year has shown a very manifest progress in the right direction. Indeed, 

 several gentlemen, whose enlistment in the cause of horticulture has 

 been comparatively of recent date, are making such strides that they 

 will soon overtake the drilled vctex-ans of our corps; and the Society 

 may well rejoice that so many are rising up, able and willing, to carry 

 forward the good work before us. 



It has long been the pride, if not the boast, of this association, that 

 such disinterested, practical and experienced men were in its councils, 

 that merit whenever discovered would lie recognized and acknowledged. 

 The world is so progressive, and so raanj' things, new or rare, are con- 

 stantly presented, that the community, as well as your Committee, 

 should keep step with the times, and be made to advance accordingly. 

 The sciences all reflect light on each other. The microscope is as useful 

 to the gardener as to the anatomist. It will show him the enemies he 

 has to combat and the wants he must supply. In fact, the anatomist 

 will unfold to him the laws of growth and decay, and will teach him, 

 in pruning, "to cut close''' and "c«( smooth;''^ for if inches are left on the 

 stump the circulating sap will follow it to its end, and then, discouraged, 

 bury itself under the bark ancl blacken and excoriate the arm, instead 

 of creeping over or around a smooth surface to join in the ascent and 

 heal the wound. He will, perhaps, first master tho animal structure; 



